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Vinyl View: 23.2 million vinyl windows were sold in 2001, making them the most popular windows. Once a frame type has been selected, the firm can build a window to meet a specific STC requirement by combining heavier glass, laminated glass, or differing glass thickness. The windows, available in...
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Washington, August 16 — In line with expectations, the pace of nationwide housing starts slowed 2.7 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.65 million units, the Commerce Department reported today. "Builders were finally able to take a breather following the breakneck speed...
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The only systems that approach selections from both ends of the process are proprietary ones, such as Shea Homes' E-Vision and Beazer Homes' Online Sales System. At that point, however, they have to schedule an appointment with a sales associate, and from that point forward, access to options data...
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Rather than make design decisions in a sales office, today's buyers are likely to visit a showroom. Instead of simply selecting carpets, countertops, and the color of appliances, they're confronted with a dozen different walk-in kitchen and bath vignettes, half a dozen fireplace surrounds, and a...
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"The average consumer expects to be treated like a VIP whether or not they're wealthy," says Barbara Caplan, a partner at Yankelovich, the market research firm based in Chapel Hill, N.C. "They have this level of control in the marketplace and expect to have a dialogue about their options."The trend...
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Toll Brothers offers buyers about 1,000 options these days, significantly more than 10 years ago. "Time deficit cuts across all markets," says Sandra Kulli, a marketing consultant based in Malibu, Calif. "If the options experience can be a respite, like the sorbet between dinner and dessert, that's...
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Sometimes a merchandising idea seems like a good one, but it just doesn't work out. For example, design director Karen Richardson at Kathy Andrews Interiors, who works with David Weekley Homes, vividly remembers a beautiful star-burst tile inset that took nine months to get. That made it...
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Brian Hutt, director of design studios for U.S. Home, says the industry has gotten smarter about showing off its products, both in models and in design centers, which has contributed to bumping up margins, including his company's. In 1997, U.S. Home had five design studios and the average spent on...
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Trying to corral runaway options selections into a strict production schedule? Technology holds the key. Here is a list of off-the-shelf tools that will keep you on schedule.
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The time involved in building a customer's dream home presents all-too-frequent opportunities for a builder to disappoint. Midland Builders, in Madison, Wis., prides itself on connecting with customers during the final leg of the home building cycle.
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In some markets, notably areas of California, designers are in position to pick and choose their builder clients. Because familiarity with each other's style saves time, costs, and headaches, many are latching onto a handful of key builders who know and trust them.
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In-depth market study is one way to be sure all those merchandising dollars are well-spent. For Color Design Center (CDC), an interior design and merchandising firm in Pacific Palisades, Calif., careful research is essential to the design process.
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One day, Sarah Reilly got quite a surprise when she visited the jobsite of a model for which she was doing the design work. "It was a one-story house all of a sudden," says Reilly, a partner in The November Group, in Austin, Texas.With experiences like that, it's not surprising that Reilly and...
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Somewhere, amid the winding lanes and cul-de-sacs of suburbia, you'll find Debby Drive. "We were coming up with street names for a new development and we needed one more and somebody said, 'Debby Drive.'"
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The Ryland Group, Toll Brothers, John Laing Homes, and Centex Homes all put a distinctive spin on programs offered to those who sell options and upgrades.
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The process that new home buyers go through to select options and upgrades has evolved over years of practice. "So far this year, 30 percent of our profit comes from our design centers," says John Rymer, vice president of sales and marketing, Morrison Homes in Atlanta.
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Customization in home building is not only here to stay, it's an inevitable and increasing precondition for doing business. Why? Americans are better off economically than ever before.
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Builders Care's ultimate goal--eradicate substandard housing. There are between 45,000 and 60,000 substandard dwellings in Jacksonville, Fla., and The Northeast Florida Builders Association (NEFBA) is doing something about them.It is an outgrowth and evolution of Habitat Resources, which began...
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Big Builder's first list of financial services for builders will appear in our October issue. Twenty-five years after starting to work with Toll Brothers, first as an Ernst and Young consultant and then, for the past 18 years, as CFO, Joel Rassman is becoming the company's executive vice president.
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Manufacturer efforts that home builders find most helpful.